In October, a group from NHYC traveled to Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club to sail in the annual Lee Trophy. This year felt particularly special because it was the first year of the regatta after Mr. Lee passed. As always, SCYC put on a great event and several members of the Lee family were there to greet us and share stories of previous years. The sailing conditions varied greatly, with rain and a squall the first day and sunny and windy the final two days. Team NHYC started off strong and remained competitive throughout the regatta, though ended up with a 2nd place finish to Annapolis Yacht Club. Though SCYC is a bit of a hike to travel to, we had a great time catching up with old friends and meeting new friends on Oyster Bay harbor. 

Thank you for supporting my trip to Tuuci Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta. It was an incredible experience and I am very grateful I was able to take part in my first Orange Bowl.

The regatta had a wide variety of conditions. The first day, there was not enough wind to complete any races. The second day, a rain storm came through, so we were postponed on land for four hours waiting for it to pass. After the storm passed, they sent us out and we completed two races in marginal trapezing conditions. Due to the lack of wind on the first day, qualifying was extended to the third day so that we had enough races input before splitting into either gold or silver. On the third day, the breeze was light but steady and we were able to complete four races overall. This finished qualifying, and going into the last day, my skipper Noah Stapleton and I were in second place and would be racing in the gold fleet. The last day started off with a steady light breeze, however after two races the breeze became too unstable to set a course so racing was ended and we finished in second place overall. Coral Reef Yacht Club did such an amazing job hosting this event, and I am excited to return next year.

This December, team Green Flags Only assembled for the first time in St. Petersburg to compete in one of the qualifier events for Women’s Match Racing Nationals, which will be held in Chicago August 2024. The event was held in St. Petersburg Yacht Club’s J70s, with the option of 4-5 sailors, the only rule being that the skipper must be female.

Our team consisted of 4 women: Marley Mais skippering, Gwynie Dunlevy (NYYC) on main, Alli Gutenkust (CBYRA) on pit and spinnaker, and Maddie Bashaw (NHYC) on bow and jib. Each member brought different levels of match racing and keelboat sailing skill to the team, and after a blustery practice day on Friday we overcame the learning curve and were competitive with larger and more experienced teams.

I’d like to thank you for your support of us at my very first national regatta as a freshman at the C420 National Championships in Chicago, Illinois, which took place during this summer. Going into this regatta I hoped to achieve a top 30 finish, which I came close to achieving. After the three days of racing were completed, I made it into the gold fleet and finished forty-seventh out of one hundred thirty three boats. The first day started with a light breeze and we were able to get a decent start of the pin and to the left side of the course, starting with a ten in that race and ending the day with two mid-fleet scores. The following day, with a bit more wind, I learned a lot about starting and accelerating off the line, ending with three more mid fleet races. On the last day, there was little to no wind so we ended up postponing on land before going out for a longer postponement on the water for over five hours in total. We ended up sailing one last race right before the racing cutoff. Due to the super light conditions with huge waves, keeping the boat up to speed was challenging, but we tried our best to go fast. Overall, we have learned about starting and keeping the boat up to speed in lighter conditions. I am excited to be able to compete in future regattas and keep on learning from the best! Thank you once again for your generous support!

I’d like to thank you for your support of us at the C420 New Englands at Shelter Island Yacht Club this summer. The first day of the regatta there were a couple general recalls due to the weather conditions and after we got a race off I finished the day with a ninth out of seventy-four boats. The next day had great sailing conditions; however, I had a challenging time with a DSQ and an OCS. The final race of the day was clean, but I had a third-row start and ended the day with a twenty. The final day of the regatta had nice wind, with high teens and chop. I had a couple mid fleet races and during the last race I was in the top ten when I capsized after a bad tack. Unfortunately, this regatta did not go as planned but I am excited to compete in the future! I appreciate the continued support even though we did not achieve our goals for this regatta. As I am still young, going into my freshman year, I appreciate the opportunity to learn and grow from these amazing sailors! Once again, thank you for your support during this regatta!

The 2023 US Sailing Team Race Championship was hosted by Mission Bay YC in CFJs. With over 20 teams ranging from high schoolers to veteran college grads, it was an incredibly competitive event. The regatta was run using the Swiss League format, which filters the rotations by wins and losses. As teams win more, they race other teams with similar records. The Swiss League round robin lasted for two days before transitioning into a best of 3 knockout series, including a quarter finals, semifinals, and finals. Unfortunately, my team did not have the best end to day two, which knocked us out before the knockout series began. Despite an unfortunate finish, we had a spectacular time sailing in San Diego. The wind and weather could not have been better and the host club absolutely crushed it. Thank you NHSF for supporting my trip to the 2023 US Sailing Team Race Championship. I hope to be back at it again next year!